The refractive index of GaAs has been measured in the wavelength range from 0.97 to 17 μm, which covers nearly the entire transmission range of the material. Linear and quadratic temperature coefficients of the refractive index have been fitted to data measured between room temperature and 95 °C. In the midinfrared, the refractive index and temperature dependence are obtained from analysis of etalon fringes measured by Fourier-transform spectroscopy in undoped GaAs wafers. In the near infrared, the refractive index is deduced from the quasiphasematching (QPM) wavelengths of second-harmonic generation in orientation-patterned GaAs crystals. Two alternative empirical expressions are fitted to the data to give the refractive index as a function of wavelength and temperature. These dispersion relations agree with observed QPM conditions for midinfrared difference-frequency generation and second-harmonic generation. Predictions for various nonlinear optical interactions are presented, including tuning curves for optical parametric oscillators and amplifiers. Also, accurate values are predicted for QPM conditions in which extremely large parametric gain bandwidths can be obtained.

Orientation-patterned GaAs (OPGaAs) films of 200 μm thickness have been grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on an orientation-patterned template fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Fabrication of the templates utilized only MBE and chemical etching, taking advantage of GaAs/Ge/GaAs heteroepitaxy to control the crystal orientation of the top GaAs film relative to the substrate. Antiphase domain boundaries were observed to propagate vertically under HVPE growth conditions so that the domain duty cycle was preserved through the thick GaAs for all domain periods attempted. Quasiphase-matched frequency doubling of a CO2 laser was demonstrated with the beam confocally focused through a 4.6 mm long OPGaAs film.

We demonstrate an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on GaAs. The OPO utilizes an all-epitaxially-grown orientation-patterned GaAs crystal that is 0.5 mm thick, 5 mm wide, and 11 mm long, with a domain reversal period of 61.2 microm. Tuning either the near-IR pump wavelength between 1.8 and 2 microm or the temperature of the GaAs crystal allows the mid-IR output to be tuned between 2.28 and 9.14 microm, which is limited only by the spectral range of the OPO mirrors. The pump threshold of the singly resonant OPO is 16 microJ for the 6-ns pump pulses, and the photon conversion slope efficiency reaches 54%. We also show experimentally the possibility of pump-polarization-independent frequency conversion in GaAs.

Quasi-phase-matched (QPM) GaAs structures, 0.5 mm thick, 10 mm long, and with 61-mum grating periods, were grown by a combination of molecular-beam epitaxy and hydride vapor phase epitaxy. These were characterized by use of mid-IR second-harmonic generation (SHG) with a ZnGeP(2) (ZGP) optical parametric oscillator as a pump source. The SHG efficiencies of QPM GaAs and QPM LiNbO(3) were directly compared, and a ratio of nonlinear coefficients d(14)(GaAs)/d(33) (LiNbO(3))=5.01+/-0.3 was found at 4.1-mum fundamental wavelength. For input pulse energies as low as 50muJ and approximately 60-ns pulse duration, an internal SHG conversion efficiency of 33% was measured in QPM GaAs.

First-order quasi-phase-matched difference frequency generation of narrowband tunable mid-infrared light is demonstrated in orientation-patterned GaAs. The all-epitaxial orientation-patterned crystal is fabricated by a combination of molecular beam epitaxy and hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Lasers at 1.3 and 1.55 microm were mixed to give an idler output at 8 microm, with power and wavelength tuning consistent with theoretical estimates, indicating excellent material uniformity over the 19-mm-long and 500-microm-thick device.